A method and apparatus are disclosed to permit real time, distributed acoustic performance by multiple musicians at remote locations. The latency of the communication channel is reflected in the audio monitor used by the performer. This allows a natural accommodation to be made by the musician. Simultaneous remote acoustic performances are played together at each location, though not necessarily simultaneously at all locations. This allows locations having low latency connections to retain some of their advantage. The amount of induced latency can be overridden by each musician. The method preferably employs a CODEC able to aesthetically synthesize packets missing from the audio stream in real time.